The present invention relates to methods to treat fabrics with lipophilic fluid and bleaching agents. The present invention is also directed to compositions containing lipophilic fluid and bleaching agents.
Conventional laundering techniques for the cleaning and treatment of fabric articles such as garments have long involved both traditional aqueous based washing and a technique commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cdry cleaningxe2x80x9d. Traditional aqueous based washing techniques have involved immersion of the fabric articles in a solution of water and detergent or soap products followed by rinsing and drying. However, such conventional immersion cleaning techniques have proven unsatisfactory on a wide range fabric articles that require special handling and/or cleaning methods due to fabric content, construction, etceteras, that is unsuitable for immersion in water.
Accordingly, the use of the laundering method of xe2x80x9cdry cleaningxe2x80x9d has been developed. Dry cleaning typically involves the use of non-aqueous, lipophilic fluids as the solvent or solution for cleaning. While the absence of water permits the cleaning of fabrics without the potential disastrous side effects water may present, these lipophilic fluids do not perform well on hydrophilic and/or combination soils.
Because these lipophilic fluids are typically used in xe2x80x9cneatxe2x80x9d form (i.e. they contain no additional additives), dry cleaners must often perform pre-treating and/or pre-spotting to remove tough soils from fabrics prior to the dry cleaning cycle. Further, nothing is typically added to boost xe2x80x9cwhitenessxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbrightnessxe2x80x9d in fabrics that are dry-cleaned as can be observed from xe2x80x9cdingyxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdullxe2x80x9d fabrics returned from a dry cleaner. It would be desirable to add bleaching to the lipophilic fluid treatment regimen in order to increase the lipophilic fluids"" brightening, whitening, and/or soil removal capability thereby reducing or eliminating the need for pre-treating and/or pre-spotting.
Accordingly, the need remains for bleach-containing care and treatment regimens for use with lipophilic fluid compositions. These regimens should be capable of delivering enhanced brightening, whitening, and/or soil removal.
This need is met by the present invention wherein bleach-containing care and treatment regimens and compositions for use with lipophilic fluid compositions are disclosed. These regimens and/or compositions are capable of delivering enhanced brightening, whitening, and/or soil removal.
The present invention is directed to a method for attaining improved fabric cleaning in a lipophilic fluid treatment regimen, wherein the method includes the steps of exposing the fabric to a lipophilic fluid and exposing the fabric to a bleach system.
The present invention is also directed to a composition for attaining improved fabric cleaning in a lipophilic fluid treatment regimen, wherein the composition includes a lipophilic fluid and a bleach system.
These and other aspects, features and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description and the appended claims. All percentages, ratios and proportions herein are by weight, unless otherwise specified. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius (xc2x0 C.) unless otherwise specified. All measurements are in SI units unless otherwise specified. All documents cited are in relevant part, incorporated herein by reference.